A Survey of Some Opinions of Michigan Sport Fishermen

Abstract A two-stage sampling design with fishing license dealers as primary sampling units within which licensed fishermen were subsampled was used to obtain a sample of opinions on certain fish management practices from resident and nonresident anglers in Michigan. Fishing license dealers were divided into 96 groups (strata), each consisting of dealers in a restricted geographical area whose combined 1961 license sales totaled approximately 9,580. Two dealers were selected from each stratum with probability proportional to estimated size, i.e., the more licenses a dealer sold, the greater the chance of his being included in the sample. Approximately six fishermen per dealer were mailed postcard questionnaires. The sample thus included 192 out of some 4,116 fishing license dealers and, allowing for nonrespondents, 927 fishermen out of a total of 926,470. All licensed fishermen were equally likely to be included in the sample. Three mailings plus a fourth contact attempt by mail, telephone, or personal co...